Material handling equipment is widely used in warehouses, stores and other facilities, and electric powered vehicles are continuing to become more popular for at least environmental and noise related advantages over gas powered vehicles. Electric powered vehicles also have advantages over manual powered vehicles relating to at least capacity, operator safety and efficiency. Electrical switches are commonly used on material handling equipment to realize different functions, such as a main key switch device having power on and off positions relating to providing power to the material handling equipment, an interlock switch device having on and off positions relating to being able to drive the material handling equipment, and a limit switch device having on and off positions relating to controlling movement of a load lift portion of material handling equipment.
Traditional contact switches used in material handling equipment generally are of a type of electro-mechanical switch or mechanical micro switch. Such switches provide a particular function by having the operator directly move an electrical contact to touch or engage another electrical contact in a specific position, such as when turning a key in a switch lock cylinder. The switches may require a fairly large volume, and tend to make switch design and layout somewhat difficult. The common switches used also have a relatively short service life because the contacts may be exposed to the atmosphere and their ability to function is subject to wear, corrosion and dirty working conditions. These issues can lead to increased costs due to downtime of the equipment and the need for maintenance or replacement.